Vibrator conveyer for furnaces



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E. B. Huosou Filed on. 22. 1932 I NVENTOR ATTORNEY Sept. 4, 1934. E. a. HUDSON 1,972,191

VIBRATOR CONVEYER FOR FURNACES Filed Oct. 22. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1934 PATENT. o1=1=1c1a 1,912,191 vnm'sroa comma FOR, FURNACES Edwin B. Hudson, Middletown, Ohio, assignor to .The American Rolling Mill Company, Middletown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 22, 1932, Serial No. 639,137 9 Claims. (Cl. 263-6) My invention relates to means for conveying metal or metal pieces through heating or heat treating furnaces, including, but without limitation, open annealing, and normalizing furnaces.

In the process of manufacture of metal sheets or other metal articles certain heat treatments are necessary such as annealing or normalizing; and these are carried out in continuous type furnaces wherever possible for the sake ofeconom'y. The

methods and apparatus thus far devised for conveying the work are not wholly satisfactory, especially when employed in furnaces which operate at temperatures around 1500 degrees F.

One of the disadvantages of most of the fur- 5 naces heretofore used is that the furnace has practically to be designed around the conveyer system, thus preventing the development of'the furnace to its highest form.

A primary object of my invention is to provide 29 a conveying system for heat treating furnaces of such improved construction and design that the disadvantages of the present furnaces as described will be greatly reduced and in some respects entirely eliminated.

My invention has for another of its objects, the provision of a novel conveying system for furnaces of the types known as normalizing, open annealing or other types of heat treating furnaces where means areprovided to convey. the work go through the furnace, my novel conveying system being a machine of such simple and practical design that its advantages over the present conveying equipment will be readily understood by these skilled in the art. I

An object of my invention is to eliminate completely the water cooling of'the conveyer parts. Another object is the complete elimination of all I moving parts that require lubrication. Still an other object is to provide a conveyer system in which the heat resisting parts remain within the furnace, thereby materially reducing the fuel requirements. With the use of my invention no limitations are placed upon the furnace designer,

as it is not necessary to design the furnace to suit the conveyer system. 1

These and other objects of my invention are obtained by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment, reference being had 5 to the drawings which form a part thereof and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section as a typical open annealing furnace taken approximately on the center line at the entering end of the furnace.

This view also illustrates a portion of the feeding conveyer outside the furnace, which is an integral part of the conveyer system as is the discharge conveyer at the exit end of the furnace.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the furnace and conveyer system taken along the lines II Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken in the broken plane indicated by the section line III-III of Fig. 2. 1

Figure 4 is an enlarged section of the playpermitting elongation tile.

Broadly in the practice of my invention, I provide a vibrator conveyer system in which the propelling force causing the work to move through the furnace is imparted to the conveyer by a suitable vibrator motor with a new and useful result' The mechanism whereby this is accomplished will be described at length hereinafter and I believe it to be broadly novel.

. Upon the foundation, 1, I have shown mounted a typical open annealingfurnace of the type generally used in the heat treatment of sheet metal. The conveyer is also mounted upon-the foundation, 1.

The furnace walls, roof, and floor are indicated generally at 2, with insulation at 3, a baflle wall at 4 and burner opening 5. The furnace buckstays are shown at 6 with the tie rods 7, and the structural steel supporting floor is shown at 8. It will be understood that the furnace shown is exemplary only, and that the structure of the furnace may be widely modified to meet various heat treating problems.

The vibrator conveyer propelling system is located under the furnace floor as indicated, and I the supports for carrying the work extend up to the proper elevation through the furnace floor. The vibrator propelling system consists of a structural steel member 9 which extends the full length of the furnace, plus the length of the outside conveyers, if desired. Member 9 is vibrated in the direction indicated by the arrow 13, by vibrator motors 10, through a connecting casting 11. The vibrator motors 10 are in turn supported by pedestals 12 which rest directly upon the foundation 1: V

Supports 14 attached to the main beam 9, extend through the furnace floor and carry cross beams 15' within the furnace, which beams in turn support the heat resisting alloy skid bars 16 upon which the work travels. The skid bars 135 16 may be made in lengths and fastened to the cross beams 15' in such a way that they diverge from the center line of the furnace as is clearly -illustrated in Fig. 3. Guides 25 are placed along the sides of .the skids in order to keep the sheets on the skids and guide them in their travel.

The supports 14 are fastened rigidly to the member 9 by'means of castings 15, one above and one below. In the form shown, the supports 14 can G be [removed by taking off the nuts 14a. Beyond .the ends of the furnace, the skids 16 may be supported by a steel framework 1'7 which rests upon the member 9 as shown. Sheets 18 are propelled in the direction of the arrow 19 by vibrations set up and transmitted to the conveyer system by the vibrator motors 10.

The supports 14 project up through the furnace bottom 2, through a special tile 20 which is provided with a slightly elongated hole so that the vibrations will not be transmitted to the furnace brickwork.

I am not restricted in the type of travel producing vibration device,-which I may employ. I may use, but withoutlimitation, fluid motors, or mechanical linkages driven from some outside power source. I prefer, however, a direct acting electrical reciprocating motor such as is disclosed in n. s. Letters Patent Numbers 1,772,596 and 1,779,454, to which reference may be made for a description thereof. These motors vibrate with the cycles of alternating current, whereby any required number of themotors remain in absolute.

synchronism. When actuated by cycle cur-' rent, these vibrators move the conveyer at the rate of 3600 vibrations per'minute. This causes the sheets 18 to move 18 to 20 feetper minute.

. the amplitude of the vibration being approximately V inch. The furnace will, .cf course, be

long enough to permit the desired heat treatment at the normal speed of movement of the sheets.

The speed may be varied by changing the amplitude of the vibrations, or. by changing the frequency. Motors of the type preferred by me are j adequate to sustain the load of the main beam and supportingmembers directly, whereby it is not necessary ,to suspend the beam, nor separately guideit in the direction of vibration;

On each upward vibration the work is proiected onward by the carrying members 16 and recontact the members 16 at a slightly advanced point in the direction of the movement, after the return stroke of the motor. The high frequency of these vibrations cause the work to move forward at the desired speed.

. The frequency of vibrations with 60 cycle power prevents the possibility of oxide welding to. the conveyor system, as the weld would have to be made in 1/60 of a second which is too short.

The oxide is thus caused to fall to the furnace floor where it is harmless to the product. On I Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof. The

essential novelty of my invention and what I desire to secure by Letters Patent, I have set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a furnace, a floor, rails located above the floor, and means for so vibrating said rails in unison that material thereon is moved along said rails solely by said vibration.

2. In a. furnace, a floor, rails located above said-floor, and means for so vibrating said rails in unison that material thereon is moved along said rails solely by said vibration, and guide means sidewise of said rails to'retain said ma.- terlal thereon.

v3. In a furnace, a floor, rails located above said-floor. supporting means for said rails passing through perforations said floor, and means below said floor to cause rapid and travel-producing vibration of said supports.

4. In a furnace, the combination of a foundation and afloor over-lying said foundation, and interspaced therefrom, rails above said floor, supporting means for said rails passing throughperforations in said floor, a structure beneath said floor to which said supporting means are Joined, and travel producing vibratory means located between said last mentioned structure and said foundation.

5. In a furnace, the combination of a foundation and a floor over-lying said foundation and inter-spaced therefrom, rails above said floor, supporting means passing through perforations in said floor, a structure beneath said floor to which said supp rting means are joined, and travel-producing vibratory means located between said last mentioned structure and said foundation, said vibratory meanscomprising a plurality of electrical reciprocating motors forming the sole-support for said structure.

6. In a furnace, the combination of afoundation and a floor over-lying said foundation and interspaced therefrom, rails above said floor, sup-' I 7. In a furnace structure, a foundation, a furnace floorsupported above said foundation, a main beam located below said floor, rails located above said floor, means passing through said floor, connecting said railsand said main beam,

and travel producing vibratory means support ing said main beam above said foundation.

8. In a furnace structure, a foundation, a fur--v nace floor, supported above said foundation, a main beamlocated below said floor, rails located above said floor, means passing through said floor, connecting said rails and said main beam, and travel producing vibratory means supporting said main beam above said foundation, said vibratory means comprising a plurality of electrlcal reciprocating motors forming the sole support for said main beam and associated structure.

9. In a furnace structure, a floor, work engaging means located above said iloor,and means for continuously and rapidly vibrating said work engaging means at a frequency sumcient to pre-- 

